Ben Trowbridge says it was easily the best chapel message he heard during his four years as a student at The Master’s Seminary. In fact, four years after hearing it for the first time, Ben thinks it might be the best sermon he’s ever heard.
Ben, the director of student and staff services at The Master’s Seminary, is referring to a January 2020 sermon from Josiah Grauman. The text was Isaiah 66:1-2. The title, “What is God Looking for in a Worshiper?”
“I was about halfway through my seminary education,” Ben remembers. “That particular chapel was early in the semester. I’m busy, working full-time, taking a dozen units including a couple language courses. I didn’t realize it before that chapel, but my focus was drifting. I was more concerned about being productive, checking items off my to-do list, than I was on cultivating a love for God. I wasn’t thinking much about my inadequacies or my daily need for the Lord.”
Ben’s perspective changed as he listened to Josiah explain the meaning of those two verses then powerfully apply the truth to each of the master’s men in attendance that day.
“Josiah reminded all of us that God doesn’t need us. He will accomplish his purposes whether or not we are involved,” Ben said. “If that’s true, then any ministry, any kingdom work, any involvement God permits us to have in his work is pure grace.”
If God doesn’t need us, what does he require of us? The answer to that question is simple, Josiah told the seminary students. Humility. “But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word” (Is 66:2).
Applying that truth to his life, Ben realized that all his classwork, his job, his preparation for ministry was a privilege: work he should daily thank the Lord for and never take for granted.
“If you’re here for the prestige of being a master’s man,” Josiah said in that sermon, “You are in it for the wrong reason.”
“Josiah talking about humility had such an impact because I know he lives a humble life,” Ben said. “Knowing how he conducts himself not just as a professor at the seminary, but also as an elder in our church adds a lot more to the message.”
That timely chapel sermon continues to have a lasting impact on Ben. He’s listened to it at least a dozen times in the past four years.
“Each time I listen, it recalibrates my heart and mind,” Ben said. “It was incredibly timely when I first heard it at the halfway mark of my seminary education. Now that I’ve graduated, it continues to minster to my soul.”
This week, The Master’s Seminary begins a new semester. Every Tuesday between now and the end of April, the student body gathers for one hour in the chapel on the campus of Grace Community Church. They will worship in song, hear testimonies from soon-to-graduate seniors, and listen to a model of expository preaching from faculty members and guest speakers. The goal of these message is two-fold: to minister to the souls of the students, stirring their affections for the master they are studying in the classroom and who they one day will serve in the pastorate; and to model faithful, accurate, powerful expositional sermons.
We invite you to join our student body each Tuesday for chapel. Services are livestreamed at 11:00 a.m. PT on the TMS YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMastersSeminary.
Below is the current speaker schedule this semester. We are thrilled to include several guest speakers who model faithful, verse-by-verse exposition in their ministries. We are looking forward to seeing how the Lord uses the faithful preaching of his word to shape the men of TMS as they prepare for a lifetime of ministry.
January 16—Andy Naselli, Professor of Systematic Theology and New Testament, Bethlehem College and Seminary
January 23—Austin Duncan, Chair of Pastoral Studies department, The Master’s Seminary
January 30—Jesse Johnson, Lead Teaching Pastor, Immanuel Bible Church, Springfield, VA
February 6—Tim Challies, Christian Blogger and Author
February 13—Joel Beeke, President Puritan Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, MI
February 20—Nathan LeMaster, Associate Professor of Old Testament, The Master’s Seminary
February 27—Michael Staton, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church, Mustang, Mustang, OK
March 5—Shepherds Conference
March 12—Nathan Busenitz, Senior Vice President, The Master’s Seminary
March 19—Alex Montoya, Senior Pastor, First Fundamental Bible Church, Whittier, CA
March 26—Robb Provost, Founder, Chairman, Lincoln Center of Albania
April 2—Easter Break
April 9—Abner Chou, President, The Master’s University and Seminary
April 16—Christopher Morgan, Dean School of Christian Ministries, California Baptist University
April 23—John MacArthur, Chancellor, The Master’s Seminary, Pastor of Grace Community Church